French leftist deputies, foreground and right, applaud following the vote at the National Assembly in Paris, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013, of a new law legalizing gay marriage. France's lower house of parliament has approved a sweeping bill to legalize gay marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children. President Francois Hollande's Socialists have pushed the measure through the National Assembly and put France on track to join about a dozen, mostly European nations that grant marriage and adoption rights to homosexuals. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)